He's Back
by smithyfan
Summary: Jack can never resist a dramatic entrance.' Jack's back, has Ianto moved on? I know this has probably been done to death but I hope I've done it a bit different and if not? Hope you enjoy it!
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **He's Back  
**Pairing: **Jack/Ianto (Owen/Tosh if you wanna see it)  
**Rating/Warning: **PG/None (will be higher in later parts)  
**Disclaimer: **Wish I owned them but I don't and never will  
**A/N: **First of hopefully three parts (Can be read alone). Jack's back, has Ianto moved on? I know this has probably been done to death but I hope I've done it a bit different and if not? Hope you enjoy it!

Jack can never resist a dramatic entrance. He could have just walked into the tourist office, you know like a normal person. But no, he has to descend into the hub via an invisible lift. Of course the surprise is ruined slightly by him being caught approaching on CCTV. Tosh who had the CCTV screen up had seen him and shouted to the rest of the team. Everyone had run over eager to see if this time, the captain really had returned, and there he was strolling across the Plaza.  
"Oh my gosh he's back!" shrieked Gwen jumping back from Tosh's chair, a grin lighting her face.

Toshiko and Owen looked at her, similar sentiments showing on their faces, although Gwen's eagerness perhaps a little diluted. Tosh caught Ianto's eye and her smile faltered as she opened her mouth to speak. Ianto however beat her to it. "I'll be in the archives if anyone needs anything."

"Ianto," Gwen protested. Ianto ignored her and turned to head to the archives. They watched as he disappeared and stood in silence, just staring at the door he had disappeared through. They were broken out of it by the unmistakable sound of the moving lift that connected them directly to the Plaza. They all spun around as Jack slowly descended into the Hub. "Jack!" squealed Gwen as she ran and threw herself at him as soon as the paving stone had sunk low enough.

He embraced her before greeting Tosh and Owen in turn. Gwen was firing questions at him but Jack took no notice as his eyes searched the area around them. "Where's Ianto?" he asked interrupting Gwen's stream of speech. Gwen fell silent and they all looked at each other. "What?" asked Jack his eyes betraying the concern that he fought to keep out of his voice. "Where is he?"

"In the archives," supplied Tosh gently. The relief was clear on his face as he asked "so why are you acting like somebody's died?"

"You've been gone nearly a year." Realisation dawned on Jack.  
"He's pissed off at me isn't he?" Tosh ignored him.  
"He watched the CCTV for days, and the days turned into weeks and I swear he slept here, just in case. He withdrew more and more and soon he barely spoke. You know he'd really come out of himself before and then he just went backwards. In the end we stopped inviting him out and then it was months and he spent most of his time alone, locked up somewhere doing goodness know what."

Tears filled Tosh's eyes and she broke off wiping them away quickly. Owen put his arm around her as her shoulders started to shake. "This goes on for about 6 months? One day we come in and he's not here, lazy bastard doesn't turn up all day. Then he's back next day, as if nothing had ever happened, back to talking, well as much as he ever did, and making coffee. Totally weird if you ask me. We invited him out for a drink and he agrees, asks if he can bring someone. Secretive little git turns up with his 'girlfriend'. Makes sense if you think about it."

Jack face is emotionless; like he's dead "We're so sorry Jack" Gwen says putting an arm over his shoulder. He shrugs it off. "Whats her name?"  
"Jack" Gwen pleads  
"Her name"  
"Catrin" she supplies reluctantly  
"Catrin what?"  
"I'm not sure, Evans I think?" Jack nods and strides towards the door Ianto disappeared through earlier.  
"I take it he's down here?" The three of them nod. Jack turns from them and disappears through the door. As soon as he closes the door he stops leaning his weight against the door and fighting back the emotion. It had been around 10 months. Jack was unsure of the actual length of time for him had been over a year or only about a week, depends how you look at it.

Every moment of it he had missed Ianto, the thought of nights spent with Ianto, mornings waking to Ianto and dinners spent with Ianto. That's what had got him through that long year. And thinking he'd never see him again he prayed that Ianto would move on and be happy but now, he was back and his prayers had been answered and now all he wanted was Ianto back.

He wiped back the tears that had spilled out and headed down to the archives. He found Ianto, alone cataloguing some artefact or another. "Ianto."

Ianto turned to look at him. "You're back, Sir." He said slowly and evenly. Jack merely nodded, eyes still fixed on Ianto's. Ianto broke the contact, scanning his eyes over Jack. "You look thin." He said finally.

"Checking me out were you?" Jack joked weakly as he took a few steps forward bringing them almost close enough to touch. The other man said nothing. "I'm sorry Ianto."

"I'm sure you had no choice Sir-"  
"Call me Jack,"  
"I can't." Jack nodded and looked at his watch. "It's five o'clock, you should go."

This surprised Ianto and it showed on his face, whatever he had expected Jack to say, it wasn't that. "What? Since when do I leave here at 5?"

Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "Since you have a girlfriend? Well at least one who's not locked in the basement attached to a machine." Ianto flinched like Jack had slapped him and Jack immediately regretted his words. He reached out placing a hand on Ianto's shoulder. "Sorry." He said sincerely, his thumb rubbing Ianto's skin through the shirt. 

"They told you then?" Jack let his hand drop, remembering.  
"Yeah."  
"I waited" Jack nodded. "I thought you'd come back, but you never did." Jack just pushed his hands into his pockets. "I'm sorry"  
"Its okay Ianto, you don't have to explain"  
"But-"  
"We never said we were exclusive, hell we never said we were anything. You've done nothing wrong Ianto, you have no need to apologise. We just have to move on." His eyes moved up to meet the younger man's. "Both of us."

**A/N: **Review maybe? xx


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **He's Back - Part 2  
**Pairing: **Jack/Ianto, Jack/OMC  
**Rating/Warning: **PG13/ None (may be higher in later parts)  
**Disclaimer: **Wish I owned them but I don't and never will  
**A/N: **Second of hopefully three parts

Jack pulls on his trousers leaving the braces hanging at his hips. The man lying on the bed looks up at him. "You don't have to go yet." Jack doesn't speak, just pulls on his shirt. He looks at the slim man as he does up the buttons. He can't even remember his name; he's just the latest in the long list of faceless shags from the fortnight since Jack's return. As his eyes skim over the man's body Jack feels a shiver, the resemblance to Ianto is obvious and Jack hates himself for it.

"Sorry, but it's for the best" The man nods, it's almost as if he understands. As Jack sits down to put on his socks the man sits up on his elbows.  
"Is it Ianto?" he asks softly. Jack freezes and his eyes lift to meet the man's – Keith – that was it, Keith's eyes.  
"What?"  
"Ianto, that's the name you said when you came" Jack shakes his head, he's in shock. "It's okay; I could tell you weren't here with me long before that, that it wasn't me you were touching." Keith sighs, "Is that who you were thinking of?" Jack lowers his eyes and doesn't reply. Keith suddenly seems to feel awkward and pulls the sheets to his waist. "Look I'm sorry, forget I said anything."

"I miss him." Jack looks up, his eyes brimming with tears. "I miss everything about him"

"What happened?"  
"I left, I went away and he moved on. I just, I can't let him go. I need him." Jack admits.

"Have you told him?"  
"He wouldn't listen." Jack tells him firmly.  
"You think?" Jack stares at Keith before looking down and finishing pulling on his socks. He picks up his boots and jacket and stands.  
"I should go and I'm sorry."  
Keith nods and as Jack moves to the bedroom door he calls to him. "Tell him." Jack pauses for a moment, hand on the handle before turning it and leaving.

Jack sits in his office thinking about Ianto and what Keith had said. A knock on the door wakes him from his thoughts and he looks up to see the man on his mind coming through the door, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Coffee sir?" Jack doesn't know what it is, whether it's the way Ianto's voice goes up in a question or the fact that his suit is particularly tight today or just the way Ianto's eyes automatically find his and seem to click there but Jack makes an impulsive decision. He stands and takes the mug from Ianto, fingers brushing.

"Could you just close the door?" He asks. He notices Ianto tense up and swallows down the lump in his throat. He places the mug on his desk and sits on the edge of the desk. Ianto stops a few feet away from him.

"Sir?" suddenly Jack doesn't know what to say.

"We haven't really talked since I came back." Ianto nods at him, not really trusting himself to speak. Here, in such close proximity to Jack, he's finding it hard to stay strong. "I just wanna say." Jack breaks off and sighs. "I'm sorry Yan, I should have said goodbye but you have to know, this was something I had to do. And I know I said everything was fine and that we should move on, but its not and I can't. I thought about you all the time and missed you more than I ever thought I could. I just, I don't know, I thought you'd know I'd come back, I'd always have come back to you." Jack stops surprised by his outburst and just looks at the younger man. Ianto shakes his head at Jack.  
"And how was I supposed to know that Jack? You never talk, you never tell me about yourself or how you feel about me, you just expect me to read your fucking mind." He shouts.

"You want to know how I feel Ianto?" Jack asks as he fights to keep his voice even. "I want to be with you all the time, just the thought of you makes me smile, and the thought of never being with you again causes me so much pain I feel like I'm dieing. Ever since I fell for you, when I walk around I feel so damn scared I don't know what to do because I'm so scared of losing you. Ianto I love you and I can't move on, I thought maybe I could but I can't. I need you." Jack stands up and slips his hands around Ianto's waist pulling their hips together. "I need you" he whispers more softly before capturing Ianto's lips and kissing him softly. He pulls back so there is a slight gap between their lips and Ianto leans forward closing it again. Ianto opens his mouth and Jack slips his tongue in. He can taste Ianto again and he tastes exactly the same as he remebered. Jack slips the jacket from Ianto's shoulders and lets it drop as Ianto's hands wrap around his braces. Jack untucks Ianto's shirt and lets his hands slip under it resting his hands on the soft skin of Ianto's lower back, holding Ianto's body to his.

Unexpectedly Ianto pulls away and looks at Jack. He unwraps his hands from the braces and his hands fly up to his face. He steps back picking his jacket up from the floor stammering excuses before leaving the office shutting the door behind him. Jack crosses to the door pulling it open again. "Ianto." He calls but Ianto doesn't turn back, shirt still hanging loose. Jack reluctantly closes the door and sinks to the floor. "Fuck!" He shouts before lowering his head to his knees and letting the tears flow, the taste of Ianto still on his lips.

**A/N: **This kind of "wrote itself" in the present tense and then it didn't really go into past properly. Can I ask if you think it works or I should try and rewrite it again? xxx


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **He's Back  
**Pairing: **Jack/Ianto Ianto/OFC  
**Rating/Warning: **PG13/None  
**Disclaimer: **Wish I owned them but I don't and never will  
**A/N: **Final part of this. Jack's back, has Ianto moved on? I know this has probably been done to death but I hope I've done it a bit different and if not? Hope you enjoy it!

Ianto hates himself for what he's just done and yet he knows, given the choice he'd do it again. After he leaves he goes home to the flat he shares with Catrin. She's home, of course. As he comes in she's getting ready to go to bed. "I was wondering when you'd be home." She says smiling and kissing him on the cheek. Ianto merely smiles at her and nods when she asks if he's coming to bed. He sorts himself out and eventually climbs into bed. She rolls over to him and starts to kiss him. He kisses her back but inside he knows it's not her he's kissing. Even when he's not with Jack he's in Ianto's thoughts. It feels wrong to him. He imagines the soft stubble that should be rubbing against his by this time in the day. Catrin's hands as they move over him are too small, too soft and Ianto longs to feel the large, warm hands belonging to Jack. As Catrin's mouth wraps around him he wishes it was Jack's. Jack who could take him all the way and knowing exactly what Ianto needs. Ianto falls asleep with Catrin in his arms, but his dreams are full of someone else.

He wakes up early and Catrin is still asleep. He gets up feeling guilty for the previous night and dresses. He kisses Catrin softly and heads to work. Jack isn't up when Ianto arrives at 6 and Ianto gets on with some paperwork. When by 8:50 Jack still hasn't appeared he puts on some coffee before heading up to Jack's office. Jack is fast asleep at his desk and the empty bottle of sleeping tablets in front of him explains why. Ianto crosses over to Jack and shakes him. "Sir?" He shakes him a little harder and sees Jacks eyes stir beneath the lids. "Sir?" Jack's eyes still again. He leans closer and speaks softer. "Jack, wake up." The captain's eyelids flicker open and he looks into Ianto's eyes. Pain seems to flash across his face and he looks away. Ianto squats down beside Jack. "How many of these did you take?" he asks.  
"Too many" Jack murmurs, rubbing his head.

"Why?"  
"I needed to sleep." He lifts his eyes back to the younger man's. "I needed to forget, at least for one night." Ianto nods and stands, enquiring whether Jack would like some coffee. Jack nods in response, "and some painkillers if we have any." Ianto heads downstairs and sees Tosh at her desk. He greets her and she smiles, seeming genuinely happy for once. She accepts his offer of coffee and he pours her a mug as he pours one for Jack. After giving Tosh her drink he heads back up the stairs coffee and aspirin in hand. As he reaches the top he hears Owen and Gwen entering the hub.

He knocks on the office door and at no reply pushes the door open. He sets the mug and tablets on the desk and notes Jack must be downstairs. "I'll leave the coffee on the desk Sir" He calls.  
Jacks voice drifts up into the office. "Hang on Ianto." He climbs the ladder emerging shirt and t-shirt in his hand. A lump forms in Ianto's throat at the sight of Jack's naked torso and he looks away. Jack pulls on the white t-shirt and sits on the edge of his desk.  
"Ianto." Ianto looks towards him but doesn't quite make eye contact. "Look at me." Jack instructs softly. Ianto does as he his asked and he looks at Jack, almost scared. "I'm sorry Ianto, about last night. It wasn't fair on you or anyone." Jack pulls on the shirt and starts to button it up. "I left you and I lost you and now you're with someone else and I just have to accept that." His hands pause halfway up his eyes lifting to Ianto's once again, he sees the tears threatening the other man's eyes and feels the intensity of his gaze, "However hard it is."

Ianto doesn't know what made him do it but he crossed over to where Jack sat and placed his hands on Jack's knees. "I can't escape you Jack." He whispers. "You're always here and when you're not, you're in my thoughts or in my dreams and I can't get away." Ianto leans forward and catches Jack's lips in a chaste kiss. He looks at Jack who doesn't move, just looks at Ianto.  
"You're so perfect" he breathes and Ianto takes this as permission and leans forwards again, this time kissing Jack fully and moving forward to stand between Jack's legs. There is desperation in the kissing as Ianto pulls Jack's half buttoned shirt over his head along with the t-shirt underneath. One hand wraps in the captains hair as the other explores the skin of Jack's back. Ianto's hands find the familiar scar running down his back, the only imperfection on Jack's body yet Ianto finds it beautiful and his fingers trace its path. Jack doesn't respond much, allowing Ianto to take control, to take this as far as he wants. He shivers when Ianto nips along his jaw line and kisses Jack's neck.

Ianto has his back to the door and is so absorbed with Jack that he doesn't hear the door open and doesn't hear the gasp. Jack however opens his eyes at the sound of the opening door and sees Gwen's jaw drop. He alerts Ianto to her presence who turns and immediately starts to blush. "Yes Gwen?" Asks Jack as if everything were normal.  
"Erm, Ianto, erm the hospital called for you, erm,"  
"Spit it out Gwen" Jack orders impatiently  
"It's Catrin, she's been in an accident on the way to work. They said you should get over there as soon as possible, and asked if you could call her parents."  
"What?" asks Ianto in shock.  
"Tosh said she'll drive you, she bringing her car around now" Ianto nodded dumbly and just left leaving Jack alone again.

Jack busies himself in work all day. The atmosphere in the hub if off with just him, Gwen and Owen and Jack is conscious he is snapping at them. When Tosh finally returns it's late and Owen and Gwen have gone home. He almost leaps on her. "Well?" Tosh shakes her head her expression telling all. "Where is he?"  
Tosh shrugs, "He said he wanted to be alone." Jack doesn't wait for more details, instead he pushes past her to search for Ianto. Eventually he finds him, sat on the roof staring out into the city. Jack slowly walks up to him. "Yan?" Ianto doesn't move. "You want me to go?" Again Ianto doesn't show any sign he's heard Jack. Jack turns to leave, he only makes a few steps.  
"Stay." He stops and turns. Ianto is looking at him tears streaming down his face. "Please?"  
Without even considering it Jack moves back towards Ianto and folds him into his arms as Ianto starts to break down in his arms. Jack holds Ianto tight allowing him to crumble. He looks out over Ianto into the night, pressing a kiss in Ianto's hair.

**A/N:** Well its done now not quite as happy ending as planned, sorry. This one wouldn't go in my normal past tense either : ( . Hope you enjoyed anyway. Reviews very welcome :D. Maybe a sequel after Jan Exams. xxx


End file.
